“Provincial fire and medical services were the first to arrive on the scene, finding that several carriages were lying on the side. A fire had broken out in one of the carriages and had begun to spread,” he added.

The train, owned by long-distance rail service Shosholoza Meyl, was reportedly full of people going back to Johannesburg from holiday in Port Elizabeth.

Train passenger Tiaan Esterhuizen said the train was “blowing its horn for a long time” before the crash.

“We were in the restaurant section of the train eating breakfast when we felt a jerk and soon after the train came to a standstill. Some of the people told me afterward they heard the train blowing its horn for a long time before the accident happened. We took the train because we thought it would be safer than being on the roads.”

Overturned train carriages billowing smoke could be seen in the fields next to the track.